EGYPT ( 3000 B.C. - 30 B.C. )
Egypt Nile Valley was one of the most fertile places in the ancient world.Each Summer, monsoon rains Swelled the nile and flooded Surrounding fields,depositing a rich layer of slit. In Prehistoric times, People settled along the river and began Cultivating wheat and barley and Building rafts of papyrus.Around 3000 B.C., a King from Upper Egypt Led Forces into the Nile Delta and conquered Lower Egypt, founding the first of more than 30 dynasties that would rule this land over the next 3,000 Years.
- Who were the Pharaohs?
Along the Nile River, irrigation allowed Egyptians farmers to increase the amount of land under Cultivation and to Produce enough food to Support people involved in other pursuits including priests and rulers. powerful men called Pharaohs-a team meaning "great house"-collected taxes in the form of grain and drafted troops and Labours for military campaigns and public projects. over time, the term "Pharaoh" came to mean both the king and his place.
Around 2700 B.C., Egypt entered its first great age of power and prosperity, known as the old kingdom, marked by the construction of massive royal tombs like the Great Pyramid at Giza.
Completed around 2500 B.C., Pyramids symbolized the soaring ambitions of Pharaohs, Who identified with the sun god Re. One text written in hieroglyphs by a royal scribe promised that the pharaoh's spirit would rise up from the Pyramid and "ascend to heaven as the eye of Re" - inspiring the image on the american dollar bill.
- What's a Mummy?
Egyptians sought to preserve the body after death,fearing that the wandering soul might be lost if it had no corpse to return to.Mumification, preparing the body of the dead by removing perishable internal organs and embalming the remains, was a practice originally confined to royalty.poor people burried thier dead in the sand, which inhibited decay.
In later times, however,many egyptians were mummified and burried in coffins on which spells were inscribed to ward off evil and launch the spirit safely to its heavenly journey. "I shall sail rightly in my bark," reads one such verse. "I am lord of eternity in the crossing of the sky." Mummified animals were burried as offerings to deities such as the cat goddess,Bastet.
- RAMSES II / Pharaoh of Egypt
It was not uncommon for egyptians kings to have numerous wives and offspring,but Ramses II went to extremes by fathering more than 100 children during his long reign.His principal wife, Queen Nefertari, had to share him with many Secondary wives,including his sister. (Incestuous unions were common within the royal family.) Secondary wives sometimes lived together with their children in households called harems and performed useful tasks such as weaving.After batling hitties at kadesh in syria in 1285 B.., Ramses made peace with the hittle king by engaging to wed his elder daughter.He then prayed to the gods to see her safely to egypt: "May you not send rain, icy blast or snow, until the marvel you have decreed for me shall reach me!"
In later times, however,many egyptians were mummified and burried in coffins on which spells were inscribed to ward off evil and launch the spirit safely to its heavenly journey. "I shall sail rightly in my bark," reads one such verse. "I am lord of eternity in the crossing of the sky." Mummified animals were burried as offerings to deities such as the cat goddess,Bastet.
- RAMSES II / Pharaoh of Egypt
It was not uncommon for egyptians kings to have numerous wives and offspring,but Ramses II went to extremes by fathering more than 100 children during his long reign.His principal wife, Queen Nefertari, had to share him with many Secondary wives,including his sister. (Incestuous unions were common within the royal family.) Secondary wives sometimes lived together with their children in households called harems and performed useful tasks such as weaving.After batling hitties at kadesh in syria in 1285 B.., Ramses made peace with the hittle king by engaging to wed his elder daughter.He then prayed to the gods to see her safely to egypt: "May you not send rain, icy blast or snow, until the marvel you have decreed for me shall reach me!"
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